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Deals and Financings

• GenScript (HK: 1548) raised more than $1 billion from Hillhouse Capital in several different investments, including a $500 million commitment to GenScript's Legend Biotech (LEGN) CAR-T subsidiary (see story). Before the investments, GenScript had a market capitalization of $6 billion and Legend was worth $4 billion. GenScript's original business unit, the Life Science Group, (now one of four businesses) offers proprietary gene synthesis technology to researchers with a global market share of 30%.  
• Elpiscience Biopharma, a Shanghai cancer immunotherapy company, closed a $105 million Series C round to start US trials of its innovative portfolio (see story). The company also plans to research novel mechanisms for cancer immunotherapy and support additional partnerships. Elpiscience has built a pipeline of 15 innovative molecules, including three candidates in clinical trials and three in-house developed molecules at the IND-enabling stage. The company says its candidates must have a differentiated biology that shows efficacy in a clinical setting platform. The C round was led by the Greater Bay Area Homeland Development Fund. 
• Beijing Hygea Medical Technology completed a $77 million Series C financing to support its medical devices, including a low temperature minimally invasive ablation device for cancer and atrial fibrillation (see story). Hygea said it would use the proceeds to accelerate its marketing and build a sales channel for its core product. The company has started an AI program to develop new minimally invasive surgery products. It is also applying its ablation technology to treat atrial fibrillation. The financing was led by China Growth Capital.  
• Alebund Pharma, a Shanghai company developing renal disease therapies, raised $60 million in a Series B round led by Quan Capital (see story). The company's small-molecule/biologic candidates target chronic kidney disease/dialysis complications, IgA nephropathy, diabetic kidney disease, and autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD). The company's lead product is the ADPKD candidate, which is currently in a Phase II trial. It will use the proceeds from the financing to build a manufacturing site plus R&D of its portfolio. Alebund said it is the first China biopharma to focus exclusively on renal disease.  
• Kinnate Biopharma, a San Diego biopharma. closed a $35 million Series A financing to form a China joint venture that will develop Kinnate's oncology drugs in Greater China (see story). The round was led by OrbiMed Asia Partners, with participation from OrbiMed Private Investments and Foresite Capital. Wenn Sun, PhD, a veteran biopharma executive, was appointed Executive Chair of the JV. Initially, the unnamed JV will focus on KIN-2787,  a Rapidly Accelerated Fibrosarcoma (RAF) inhibitor aimed at lung cancer, melanoma, and other solid tumors. 
• Fulgent Genetics (FLGT) of Los Angeles made a $19 million investment in its China JV, FF Gene Biotech, to gain majority control of the China testing company (see story). In 2017, FF Gene was formed by Fulgent, Xilong Scientific, and Fuzhou Jinqiang Investment Partnership with the goal of bringing next generation sequencing technology to China's market. The JV gave Fulgent a vehicle for offering its genetic tests in China. 
• Shenzhen Pregene Biopharma out-licensed Indian rights for its anti-BCMA CAR-T cell therapy to Dr. Reddy's Labs (BSE: 500124) (see story). Dr. Reddy's will make $5 million in upfront and milestone payments for the first indication of the therapy and $7.5 million for any additional indications. It will also pay double-digit royalties up to $150 million. Dr. Reddy's will be responsible for all development costs in India. In a China investigator-led trial, PRG1801 showed positive signs of efficacy and safety in 34 patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma.  
• Viva Biotech (HK: 1873), a Shanghai drug discovery CRO, announced a strategic collaboration with Beijing's BioMap, which offers AI + biological computing services (see story). BioMap was formed in September 2020 by Baidu Ventures, with BV's Chief Executive Liu Wei serving as CEO, and Baidu's (BIDU) founder Robin Li as Chairman. The combination of Viva's structure-based drug discovery technology and BioMap's deep-learning AI platform is expected to accelerate novel drug R&D.  

Trials and Approvals 

• Shanghai Reistone Biopharma started a global Phase III clinical trial of its Janus kinase type 1 (JAK1) inhibitor in patients with Atopic Dermatitis (see story). SHR0302 is a novel, oral JAK1 inhibitor that Reistone expects will offer an improved safety and efficacy profile compared to pan-JAK inhibitors by avoiding the hematological side effects of JAK2 inhibition. The company, which focuses on bringing China-sourced novel products for autoimmune/inflammatory conditions to global markets, in-licensed global rights to the candidate in autoimmune diseases from Jiangsu Hengrui Medicine.  
• Antengene (HK: 6996) of Shanghai announced China approved a Phase III trial of selinexor (XPOVIO®) to treat advanced or recurrent endometrial cancer (see story). Selinexor is an only-in-class oral selective inhibitor of nuclear export (SINE) that was discovered and developed by Karyopharm (KPTI) of Boston. In 2018, Antengene in-licensed greater China rights to Selinexor as part of a $162 million, four-drug deal. Selinexor is approved in the US to treat multiple myeloma and diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.  
• Connect Biopharma, a Taicang-San Diego company, has dosed the first patient in a global Phase II trial testing CBP-201 in adults with moderate-to-severe persistent asthma who have Type 2 inflammation (see story). CBP-201 is an interleukin-4 receptor alpha (IL-4Rα) antibody that has already started trials for atopic dermatitis and is also in development to treat chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps. The asthma trial will administer two doses of CBP-201 to 300 patients in the US, China, EU, and other sites.  

COVID-19 Pandemic 

• Shanghai Fosun Pharma formed a JV with its COVID-19 partner BioNTech (BNTX) to manufacture their partnered mRNA vaccine in China (see story). The JV will have capacity to manufacture 1 billion doses of the vaccine. Fosun will invest $100 million to build the facility for its 50% share of the JV, while BioNTech will contribute its proprietary manufacturing technology, which it values at $100 million. In March 2020, the two companies partnered China development of the COVID-19 vaccine in a $135 million deal. 

Company News 

• LianBio, a Shanghai-Princeton biotech, announced Yizhe Wang, PhD, will become the company's CEO and a member of the Board of Directors (see story). Dr. Wang has worked for Eli Lilly (LLY) and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), leading drug development and commercial launches in China and the US. In a telephone interview, Debra Yu, MD, LianBio President and Chief Business Officer, stated "As a company, we're thrilled about Yizhe joining us. It is rare to find somebody with solid executional leadership experience in development and commercialization in the US and China. He is strategic and passionate with a long track record of leading cross-border teams. He's very dynamic with an ability to talk to our partners and key opinion leaders. He will be a good fit for LianBio."  
• San Diego's aTyr and its Hong Kong subsidiary, Pangu Biopharma, are on track to develop bi-specific antibodies to treat diseases with Neuropilin-2 (NRP2) overexpression, including cancer (see story). Pangu is in the middle of a two year program to develop its bispecific platform with funding from a Hong Kong innovation fund. aTyr’s R&D is based on the extracellular function and signaling pathways of tRNA synthetases, a new area of biology.